The Funeral
by AvengerGal
Summary: The story of how Phil's girlfriend, the cellist found out about his death. Besides the fact that the cellist was mentioned in the movie, she is an OC. Please R&R. Constructive Criticism much appreciated. Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first Fanfic. Sofia-Marie Johnson is an OC. Not based on any real cellists except for my sister who plays the cello.**

**Enjoy! Please R&R! I like constructive criticism. Only.**

* * *

Pepper would never forget the dreadful feeling she felt when she found out that Agent Phil Coulson was dead.

"No. No, it can't be. No, not Phil!" she said to Tony.

"I'm sorry Pepper."

"How could this happen?"

"Loki stabbed him in the back," answered Tony bluntly.

Pepper shook her head in remorse. "We need…," she struggled to keep her thoughts straight. "We need to tell his family, we need to tell everyone. We need a funeral. Has Fury arranged anything?"

Then a thought occurred to her, and it was like a stab to the heart.

"Oh my goodness Tony, we need to tell his girlfriend."

"Oh, right," said Tony. "The cellist."

* * *

Sofia-Marie Johnson was in her living room one very early Sunday morning, practicing a Bach concerto on her cello. She was worried about something. Phil had told her over a week ago that he was going to be involved in a critical mission. She understood that it was pretty confidential, so when Phil couldn't tell her about his whereabouts, she was fine with it.

However, she hadn't heard from him all this time. Suddenly, she realized she was playing out of tune. _Get a hold of yourself,_ she scolded herself. She was a professional cellist. She couldn't afford to play out of tune. Then the phone ringed.

Sofia-Marie jumped, startled. She quickly recovered, placed her cello carefully down, and ran to the phone. _Please be Phil. Please be Phil._

She answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"_Hello, this is Natasha Romanoff. I assume you are Sofia-Marie Johnson._" The voice at the other end was feminine, no-nonsense, yet gentle.

_Do I really have a fan so crazy as to stalk me and find my number? _Sofia-Marie decided to go along with it.

"Yes, I am Sofia-Marie."

_"Then I correct in saying that you know about SHIELD."_

Sofia-Marie froze. She had this horrible, dreadful feeling. "This is about Phil...isn't it? What happened?" she asked the Romanoff woman anxiously.

_"I'm sorry to inform you that Agent Phil Coulson was stabbed on a mission. There will be a funeral this coming Saturday." _

An "Oh," was all Sophia-Marie managed to say, because suddenly, the world was rocking her back and forth, and her head was filled with a harsh cacophonous noise. She almost passed out.

_"Miss Johnson? Are you alright?"_

"I-I don't know," stammered Sophia-Marie.

_"I can send assistance." _offered Natasha.

"I'm fine." _Compose yourself! _Sofia-Marie told herself.

_"The funeral will start at 10 a.m., and I will send you the directions to the cemetery."_

"I'll be there," she replied. "Thank you for informing me about...everything."

_"No problem. Miss, Johnson, I have one thing to request from you. I know that all this is so hard on you, and we all share your regrets. Um...We'd love to have you play at the funeral. Would that be alright?"_

"That would be okay." said Sofia-Marie.

_"Then will you come to Stark tower on Tuesday to straighten things out with SHIELD? We will provide transportation. A taxi will pick you up at 7:00 a.m. All your performances and meetings for that day will be cancelled."_

_What the heck? _thought Miss Johnson. "Sure...no problem. Um...I'll see you then, I suppose?"

_"Ok, see you there. Have a good day Miss Johnson." _

Sofia-Marie put down the phone. Suddenly, the full weight of what she just learned fell upon her. _Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Phil's dead. _She plunked onto a chair and sobbed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay guys! Here's chapter 2! Thanks for the nice reviews; especially because this is my first fanfic!  
**

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On Tuesday, the taxi arrived promptly at 7 a.m. That is, if you could call it a taxi. The taxi was shiny and black with the SHIELD logo on the doors. It looked very official.

"I'm Harold Hogan, your driver. Are you ready for me to take you to Stark Tower?" he asked politely.

Sofia-Marie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I'm ready."

"Then off we go."

Sofia-Marie noticed that, in the elevator, Harold Hogan ("Call me 'Happy.'") pressed the button for the top floor.

The elevator doors finally slid open. A man in a suit was standing with his back to her, right in front of the elevator.

Turning around slowly, gesturing wildly with his hands, he said, "WHO just had a ride on me and Pepper's private elevator. I have specifically said that…oh."

"Oh…," Sofia-Marie also said, blinking. He had a _very_ familiar face. The possibility of meeting Tony Stark at Stark Tower had just never occurred to her. _T__he _Tony Stark.

"It didn't occur to me," said Tony Stark, "that Phil's girlfriend was _the _Sofia-Marie Johnson. I have to say that I am a fan of yours, and that you are welcome on my private elevator anytime."

_TONY STARK is a fan of MINE? Is this the same person who's known for being a Black Sabbath fan? _Sofia-Marie struggled to find something to say. "Uh…thank you," she said rather lamely. A lady sitting on a chair nearby with a laptop stood up.

It was _the_ Virginia "Pepper" Potts. Sofia-Marie Johnson was starting to feel overwhelmed. Especially after she saw that they were not the only ones in the room.

The other faces she saw were faces she had seen glimpses of on TV. Because TV could only show you glimpses. They were glimpses of people caught in heroic action. People fighting a horrible force in NY City. These faces belonged to those people. _Oh my gosh. The Avengers?_

She had to remain cool and say something. "Uh…Phil never mentioned anything about you guys. And girls," she added, looking over at Natasha Romanoff- so the woman on the phone was the Black Widow!

"Well, sometimes he would talk about Captain America," Sofia-Marie said, glancing over at a man she guessed was him. "He was a huge fan," she added nervously.

"Welcome to Stark Tower," said Pepper warmly. Maria Hill came over with a smile and a few official papers. "We need you to sign these."

After they "straightened things out", Sofia-Marie was introduced to the Avengers. She rather liked them. They were very nice to her, which was great because the past few days had been difficult for Sofia-Marie. Everything had seemed so confusing; the world was a blur.

* * *

Tony Stark escorted her out the door. "It's rumored," Sofia-Marie said to him, "that you play the piano very well."

"It's rumored, eh? Probably no one believes it because of the other rumor going around that I own three Black Sabbath tour t-shirts."

"Well _do_ you play the piano?"

"What, do you want me to accompany you when you play your cello at the funeral or something?"

"Actually, yes. Do you think you can master the accompany part for this piece," she scribbled the name of a piece and its composer on a piece of paper and handed it to him, "by Saturday?"

Tony winked at her. Sofia-Marie took that as a yes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! Here's the last chapter. Ok, this is very important- If you've never heard "The Swan": from the Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens before, then I suggest you listen to it: type in Yo-Yo Ma The Swan Saint-Saens on Youtube. **

** Why don't you go ahead and start the video when Sofia-Marie starts playing. I don't know-it's up to you. **

**Disclaimers: I do not own the Avengers. I also do not own the youtube video. Enjoy this chapter. **

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The day for the funeral came. For some reason, Sofia-Marie felt peaceful. Just nice and calm. Of course there was still the pain that Phil was gone, yet she felt as if she was ready. Ready for the taxi that picked her up. Ready for the crowd of people in black. She was ready when her cue came for her performance.

She stood up with her cello and walked over to a chair in front of the crowd of people. Tony also walked up with the accompany book in his hand. They bowed and Tony sat down at the piano. She stayed standing up. She saw Pepper dabbing at her eyes with a Kleenex, the Avengers with solemn looks on their faces, and Director Fury nodding at her. She also saw Phil Coulson's family and friends.

Sofia-Marie made her speech. "Thank you to Mr. Anthony Stark who, as I have heard, has been practicing the accompaniment for my piece for hours and hours on end- and willingly, too. I appreciate it a lot. And thank you to SHIELD for giving Phil a proper funeral.

"The piece I am about to play is a very famous one called 'The Swan': from the Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens. I have chosen to play this piece specifically because it was Phil's favorite piece out of all the pieces that I have played for him.

"I remember him saying that he liked this piece because it was so sad and beautiful. I remember correcting him. Many people think of this piece as about a swan that is dying. That's because someone choreographed the ballet, "The Dying Swan," to the piece by Saint-Saens. But the music that Saint-Saens composed is about a swan that is gracefully gliding through water. Phil and I discussed why the music spoke such a sad language. I remember that he said that the piece and the way I play it was so beautiful that it was heartbreaking. I will always remember that whenever I play this piece. His death was very heartbreaking, and I felt as if I couldn't move on without him. Everything seemed so confusing and sudden. But then I realized that the beautiful thing is that life goes on. The world keeps spinning and I can't do anything about it, so I might as well move on. Thank you to the Avengers for showing me that there is still kindness in this world, even if Phil is dead. And thank you everyone for listening."

So she sat down and nodded to Tony, who began playing. When she started playing, it seemed that nobody could breathe. The music was truly beautiful. It seemed to pierce the crowd's very souls. They had never in their life heard such touching music. Sofia-Marie seemed in one with the music; it was as if she had opened a gateway to another world by her playing. They could envision the swan beautifully, gracefully on a lake.

With the music they all remembered their favorite memories with Coulson. They remembered the way he would smile at you and yet say something snarky. They remembered his sense of humor, and how hard he worked.

It seemed too quickly that the music ended. She stood up and bowed, and the crowd clapped.

So life went on.


End file.
